Category Archives: Part-Time Issues

We will hold a General [Union] Membership Meeting on Thursday, November 14th from 5:00 to 7:00 in the Alumni Reading Room [3rd floor, Brooklyn Library].

The single topic for discussion will be: ‘Equity’ & ‘Parity’, in particular, for Part-Time Faculty…

What is meant by equity? What is meant by parity? How do we get there if at all?

Please bring your ideas and questions to this open-discussion, as this is a ‘global’ issue affecting faculty across higher-ed and the nation. Over his ten years as UFCT President, Kye Carbone has been working on issues of equity and parity: he will provide historical context for the next push for parity/equity, and make the case as to why this issue warrants every single UFCT bargaining unit member’s full-attention, whether you are full-time or part-time, tenured or non-tenured.

No need to RSVP: all dues-paying members are welcome.

Following the meeting, the UFCT will be hosting a Happy Hour(s)!! at the Brooklyn Public House (DeKalb, a few doors in from Vanderbilt…).

I recently attended, with UFCT local 1460 Secretary Holly Wilson, a Summit on the role of contingent labor in the academy. The Summit was titled, “Reclaiming Academic Democracy: Facing the Consequences of Contingent Employment in Higher Education,” and was convened by a new organization called “New Faculty Majority,” whose goal is to educate about and advocate for equity for contingent professors nationally. They work with existing unions, but are something of a supra-union organization–not unlike, say, the Freelancer’s Union. I encourage you to read MLA President Michael Bérubé’s astute briefing on the summit at the Chronicle of Higher Ed, but I’d like to add my own ‘report-back’ here, too.

It was incredibly enlivening to speak with and learn from my counterparts across the country, and I met many committed unionists who, like our Union, have been innovating ways to garner rights and benefits for their Adjunct members. Of course, many faculty don’t have the privilege and protection of a union, which means (as many of us who work at other institutions perhaps know too well): no rights, no benefits, no assurance of work from semester-to-semester, no say in governance, no clear processes for evaluation and promotion, and so forth. I found particularly acute discussions about how part-timers, because they have to rely mostly on student evaluations as support for being re-hired, don’t in fact have academic freedom–which in turn threatens academic freedom for full timers and students alike.

Now this laundry list of what other Adjuncts don’t have reminds me, once again, just how strong our own Collective Bargaining Agreement is on many of these points–especially ARPT–and how innovative our “Certificate of Continuing Education” is. Of course there’s always more to do, and I left the conference refreshed in my conviction that the future of higher education is inextricable from the role of labor in the academy. If we’re committed to preserving our classrooms as spaces for free and open discourse–that is, for the learning that underpins civil society–then we need to, as faculty, insist that we are the core of the university, and that we therefore must have equity and freedom.

Please do be in touch if you’d like to know more or want to discuss these matters. You can reach me at emilybeall@gmail.com

A group of union members has initiated a much-needed awareness campaign to draw attention to the following:

75-80% of Pratt faculty are currently deemed ineligible for any form of health insurance benefits through the Institute

Of Pratt’s yearly operating budget of 170 million, less than 20% is spent on faculty (that’s including all part-time and full-time faculty benefits).

The Pratt administration has agreed to provide healthcare benefits for part-timers in the past 2 contracts, but has yet to honor these agreements in practice.

Every other college of Pratt’s prestige and caliber in NYC provides healthcare benefits to both full and part-time faculty (including The New School, Cooper Union, School of Visual Arts, CUNY, NYU, and Columbia).

UFCT’s current demand is that Pratt grant all part-timers (who teach a 50% workload for at least two semesters) access to healthcare benefits with a 25% contribution by the employee.

This is just the beginning of a multi-pronged campaign. Check out the website, or download the Healthcare FactSheet to find out how to support this endeavor.

A benefit enshrined in the Collective Bargaining Unit involves a full-time or adjunct faculty member's ability to follow any course of study at Pratt Institute and to receive full or partial reimbursement depending upon the faculty member's status (full time or adjunct).

Article 28.4 (b) of the UFCT 1460 Collective Bargaining Agreement states the following:

28.4Tuition Remission and Tuition Exchange Plan

(b)Part-Time Faculty

The tuition remission program set forth in Article 28.4(a)(1), above, shall be available on a pro rata basis to the spouses and children of the adjunct faculty who have completed ten (10) or more semesters of employment (as a visitor or adjunct).The pro-ration per semester shall be based on the faculty member’s workload in the last preceding semester as against a full-time per semester workload in the faculty member’s department.

This means that there is no limit to the reimbursement based upon some arbitrary maximum number of course credits set by Human Resources. Course credits are nowhere mentioned in the CBA. If the adjunct takes 8 credits, the reimbursement will be figured based on that, and if he or she takes 12, it will be figured based on that, and so on. The adjunct receives reimbursement based upon the ratio of his or her workload the previous semester in relationship to a full-time workload in his or her department. That ratio in turn is multiplied by the total tuition, resulting in the amount Pratt covers, and the amount for which the adjunct is responsible.

As such, if you are an adjunct faculty member who has used the tuition remission benefit for yourself, spouse, or any dependent child in the last three years, please contact the UFCT ASAP as you most probably paid much more than was warranted for your tuition remission benefit.

From an email sent by Kye Carbone to the membership on October 27, 2007:

Dear UFCT Members:

The Office of Human Resources is making a genuine effort of notifying all Pratt employees of the ‘Open Enrollment' period which runs from: October 22nd to November 9th. The Open Enrollment period was announced on the pratt.edu web-mail system and notices were sent to individual homes. Moreover, HR has notified the UFCT directly, the following communiqué from Lisa Frankel who is the Benefits Administrator for HR: "Please encourage your membership to read and act on this benefits change-up/renewalperiod, which is running through November 9th. If someone is unable to get all the materials taken care of before that date, they can still reach out to me or Kisha Henry, Benefits Coordinator, and we will work with the deadline. Thanks for your assistance in this matter."

On the specific matter of health benefits for the part-time faculty, the UFCT has not surprisingly, been receiving a number of inquiries. As most agree, this issue is of critical importance to the faculty and to this Union. We have been in direct discussion with the Pratt Administration for over two years, and the issue is front and center in our current contract negotiations. With his permission, I am copying here, a response Tom Greene (HR Director) gave to a ‘benefits eligible' part-timer who was inquiring about the availability of health insurance for the part-time faculty:

"We are currently in negotiations with the faculty union and are hoping to resolve medical coverage for PT faculty among many other issues. At the moment however there is no change that has been agreed to. Assuming we reach agreement on it eventually, PT faculty will then be notified of the benefit and the opportunity to enroll. So you won't miss anything during Open Enrollment."

Stay tuned!

For now though, please read the attached document carefully, there is something here for everyone.

Regards,

-Kye

Here is the attachment to which Kye refers:

OPEN ENROLLMENT NEWS!

From the Office of Human Resources…

This year's Open Enrollment season will be held from

October 22 through November 9, 2007.

What is Open Enrollment?

Open Enrollment is a period during which eligible subscribers may enroll in (or in some cases, transfer between) various benefit programs provided by Pratt Institute.

Who is eligible?

Benefits-eligible employees (i.e., your appointment at Pratt comes with a benefits package) can sign up and/or make changes to their benefits options while part-time faculty and staff can sign up for a supplemental retirement plan.

What choices are available?

The plans that are available are:

medical (except for members of 32B-J),

transportation reimbursement (TRIP),

flexible-spending accounts for dependent care (DCFSA), and

tax-deferred retirement savings programs with TIAA-CREF.

Employee participation in any of these programs is on a pre-tax basis.

Employees already participating in the Pratt Institute Retirement Plan also may sign up to temporarily opt out of making their contributions until they earn $8,000 in salary for 2008, $12,000 for clerical and technical members of local 153(the $8K / $12K Exemption), or to make additional non-matched contributions to their account.

Do I have to do anything?

Yes, if you:

medical

– want to enroll in a medical plan or change the medical plan you are enrolled in

-are enrolled in the TRIP and/or DCFSA plan(s) and want to continue without interruption into 2008

-want to enroll in the TRIP and/or DCFSA plan(s)

No, if you are not making any changes to your benefits.

What happens if I don't sign up?

For some benefit offerings, you will not be able to enroll until next year's open enrollment season. There may be exceptions during the plan year (Jan 1 – Dec 31) if there is a change in status (e.g., loss of other medical coverage, divorce, birth of a child, etc.).

How do I get more information?

Information will be made available upon request. You may make your request for open enrollment materials by e-mail to hr@pratt.edu or via phone at (718) 636-3787. Of course, walk-ins are always welcomed.

Who will be available to help me?

The benefits staff of Pratt Institute will be available to assist you during this time. Staff members will be at the Pratt Manhattan location on the following dates and times: